Always a favourite to read aloud with his special liking for sprung rhythm, this week’s Featured Poem is a choice from Gerard Manley Hopkins. Hopkins visited Inversnaid – located on the east bank of Loch Lomond in Scotland – and this poem was the product, evoking the wild and untouched wonders of nature. As Autumn turns into Winter, it’s a particularly good one to read if you’re planning any seasonal walks and adventures before the frosts set in.

Inversnaid

This darksome burn, horseback brown,
His rollrock highroad roaring down,
In coop and in comb the fleece of his foam
Flutes and low to the lake falls home.

A windpuff-bonnet of fáwn-fróth
Turns and twindles over the broth
Of a pool so pitchblack, féll-frówning,
It rounds and rounds Despair to drowning.

Degged with dew, dappled with dew
Are the groins of the braes that the brook treads through,
Wiry heathpacks, flitches of fern,
And the beadbonny ash that sits over the burn.

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief,
More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring.
Comforter, where, where is your comforting?
Mary, mother of us, where is your relief?

We’ve read the above many, many times over the years in our shared reading groups across the country, with a vast range of reactions being evoked. Now a new and exciting multimedia project will reenvision Gerard Manley Hopkins’ words to be showcased on a grand scale.

The poem No Worst, There Is None, as featured in The Reader Organisation’s anthology Poems to Take Home, has been selected by Ad Hoc Creative EXPO as the inspiration for the new installation, to be presented at the end of May. The meeting of Hopkins’ words, Ryder-Jones’ music and Lawrence’s vision all within Calderstones Mansion House makes an ideal and engaging combination, marrying the power of great literature and shared reading to the ability of creative energy to create beautiful new ideas in a reimagined space. A section of the Mansion House is part of the Ad Hoc scheme, which allows people to live and work within properties at a minimal cost and play a part in bringing treasured buildings back to life.

Bill Ryder-Jones

Bill Ryder-Jones, previously of The Coral and now a solo artist and much-sought after producer said of the project:

“I’ve been jumping between producing, playing shows and working on the next album for over a year now, so I’ve been hoping something like this would turn up. The chance to revisit a different way of writing – and also to indulge a side of myself – was too good to pass up.”

while artist and Head Printer at the prestigious Print Club London Marco Lawrence said:

“I’m always interested in incorporating rhythm and narrative in some way into my work, so I’ll be seeking to expand on these themes. And I’m interested in what this new platform allows me to achieve. Equally, I’m excited to be making work with Bill Ryder-Jones. His work is beautiful, thought-provoking and even eerie sometimes. It’ll be tough to match and marry visuals to his audio, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Marco Lawrence

It’s extremely exciting for us to be a part of this project and to have Calderstones Mansion, our new home for readers, playing such a role in fostering a strong artistic community in Liverpool along with the work of Ad Hoc Creative.

The first Ad Hoc Creative EXPO – the only chance to experience this exclusive installation – will take place at Calderstones Mansion on Thursday 28th May at 6pm. Entry is free, but due to limited capacity registration in advance is essential. Register for free tickets at adhoccreative.eventbrite.co.uk